Wednesday, 11 February 2015

MX-5 Roadster ND Colours

This page lists the available paint colours for the fourth generation ND models. There were three types of paint finish produced - Solid, Metallic, and Mica (also called Pearl). Solid colours have a plain finish, metallic colours are mixed with flakes of aluminium for extra shine, and mica colours use added mineral flakes to produce a multi-coloured reflection. The colour samples in the chart below are indicative only, they can't show the metallic and mica effects.
Ceramic Metallic was a new paint colour for 2015 that debuted on the CX-3 crossover model. This is a light grey/silver shade intended to emphasise the different surfaces of the car body by changing appearance under varying light conditions.
Blue Ether and Mercury Silver were two new colours unveiled at the 2015 SEMA show. These colours remain exclusive to the Speedster and Spyder concept models with no word on either being available to customers.
After Soul Red, Machine Grey is the second of Mazda's premium paint finishes. These two colours were specially developed to enhance the Kodo design language. Machine Grey was introduced on the MX-5 as part of the world premiere of the RF model in New York. The colour was exclusive to the RF to begin with, only becoming available on the soft top models in 2018.
This new grey uses strong contrast between light and dark to highlight the car's strength and precision, it supposedly looks as though the car body is made from a solid steel block. The paint uses a clever combination of black base under a thin layer of aluminium flake mixed with black, with a final clear coat to create the dark grey finish.
White Ether and Kuro were introduced on the Speedster Evolution and RF Kuro concept models unveiled at the 2016 SEMA show. These colours were not available on production models.
At the 2017 Tokyo Auto Salon, Mazda presented an ND model painted in the Classic Red colour used on the original Eunos Roadster. This colour was then made available to order on new models in Japan for a limited time.
Soul Red Crystal was an evolution of Mazda's signature red paint that debuted on the 2017 CX-5 model. This colour further enhances the Kodo design language with 20% more colour saturation and 50% more depth than the original Soul Red. The new paint features a newly developed highly saturated red pigment for a richer red. In addition to high-brilliance extremely thin aluminium flakes, the reflective coat also features light-absorbing flakes that emphasise shaded areas to achieve a depth of color that previously required two layers.
The aluminum flakes were made a uniform size, the consistency of the paint was enhanced and a technique to shrink the volume of paint during the drying process was employed. This results in even, smooth coverage of the aluminum and light-absorbing flakes on the car's body and more precise control of light reflection, making for a substantially deeper and more vivid color.